Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) today released the April 2009 traffic figures for Abu Dhabi International Airport. The figures show a 12 per cent increase in passengers travelling to, from, and through the airport compared to the same month in the previous year. Aircraft movements also increased by 5 per cent.

Conferences and exhibitions held in Abu Dhabi in April, such as Cityscape Abu Dhabi, were attributed as some of the main contributing factor to the passenger traffic increase. Other factors included the arrival of new Sudanese airline, Sun Air, with three weekly flights between Abu Dhabi and Khartoum, and Etihad Airways commencing daily flights to Melbourne, Australia.

London remained in the top position as Abu Dhabi’s busiest route, with Bangkok in second position. Doha was the third business destinations, followed by Bahrain in fourth place, making Jeddah the airport’s fifth busiest destination for the month.

Origin destination passengers increased by 13.7 per cent during the month of April. The Indian subcontinent continued to see strong growth with competitive pricing and high volume workforce traffic.

Traffic to and from India increased by 29.2 per cent; while UK traffic increased by 15.1 per cent. Pakistan was Abu Dhabi’s third largest market for the month of April with an overall increase in traffic of 13.9 per cent. Australia continued to see strong growth becoming the airport’s ninth largest market after a traffic increase of an amazing 35.4 per cent as a result of Etihad’s new daily route into Melbourne.

In this regard, Mohammed Al Bulooki, Vice President of Airline Marketing and Aeronautical Revenue, stated: “Worldwide, April is a month where a lot of business travel increases and this is clearly reflected in the traffic figures. Also the fact that we have seen a 13.7% increase in origin destination traffic further assures us that Abu Dhabi is growing strongly as a destination”.

“We keep attracting new airlines to Abu Dhabi International Airport which is testament to the quality of services and facilities we provide, as well as the increasing interest in Abu Dhabi as a global business and tourism destination. The new third terminal at the airport has significantly increased our capacity, which means we can keep up with demand and open our doors to more airlines wishing to establish routes to Abu Dhabi in the future”, Al Bulooki concluded.

Mail volumes in April increased a phenomenal 54 per cent, still led by the increase in mail volume to the USA and Australia. Cargo movements declined by 5 per cent during the same month.